As the amount of information that can be accessed from a computer via the Internet increases, new and useful ways to display that information are needed. A wide variety of pre-existing means for displaying data are available. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) is a visual computer environment that represents programs, files and options with graphical images, such as icons, menus, and dialog boxes on the screen. A user can select and activate these options by pointing and clicking with a mouse or with a keyboard. GUI provides standard software routines so that a particular item such as a scroll bar works the same way to the user in all applications.
While GUI simplifies moving through data, the user's reach is greatly extended by the ability of one computer to connect to one or more additional computers. The Internet is a wide area network connecting thousands of disparate networks in industry, education, government and research. The Internet uses the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) as the standard for transmitting information. An intranet is a network of organizational networks that run TCP/IP protocols and where the organizational networks are internal to a single organization. An intranet may be connected to the Internet.
The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is the protocol within TCP/IP that governs the breakup of data messages into packets to be sent via IP. The total set of interlinked hypertext documents residing on Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) servers all around the world is called the World Wide Web. HTTP is the protocol used to carry requests from a browser to a Web server and to transport pages back to the requesting browser.
Documents on the World Wide Web, called Web pages, are written in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML is an application of Standardized Generalized Markup Language (SGML) that uses tags to mark elements, such as text and graphics, in a document to indicate how Web browsers should display these elements to the user and should react to user actions such as activation of an element by means of a key press or mouse click. Web pages are identified by URL (Uniform Resource Locators) that specify the particular machine and pathname by which a file can be accessed. These files are transmitted from server to end user under the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Codes, called tags, embedded in an HTML document associate particular words and images in the document with URLs so that a user can access another file, which may be halfway around the word, at the press of a key or the click of a mouse.
Web pages are located by Web browsers. A Web browser is software that lets a user view HTML documents and access files and software related to these documents. Web browsers can provide access to documents on a network, an intranet, or the local hard drive. Navigation in Web browser software is based on hyperlinks which allow users to point and click with a mouse in order to jump from document to document in whatever order they desire.
Web browsers display acquired data on Web pages and frames. IN HTML, a frame refers to a rectangular section displayed by a Web browser that appears like a somewhat separate document from the rest of the page. In other words, the browser display can be divided into separate sections, each of which appears like a different web page.
As used herein, “aggregating information” means collection of desired information by a user by collecting and correlating the desired information at the user's computer. One current method of aggregating information is through the use of Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts. CGI is the specification that defines communications between information servers (such as HTTP servers) and resources on the server's host computer, such as databases and other programs. The CGI script is an external application that is executed by an HTTP server machine in response to a request by a client, such as a Web browser. The CGI may be invoked by a user clicking on an element in a Web page, such as a link or an image. Communication between the CGI script and the server is carried out via the CGI specification. CGI scripts can be written in many programming languages and can also be batch programs or compiled programs. CGI scripts are used to provide interactivity in a Web page. Active X controls and Java applets can provide similar functionality to CGI scripts though through different means. By writing specialized CGI scripts information can be aggregated.
Another method of aggregating information is through a portal. A portal is a collection of links, content and services designed to guide users to information they are likely to find interesting. For example, the type of information to which a user may be guided may be news, weather or stock quotations.
Another method of aggregating information is through “Push” technology. “Push” technology, developed in relation to the World Wide Web, is designed to provide end users with personalized Web access by having a site actively “push” requested information to the user's desktop, either automatically or at specified intervals. In other words, the user is relieved of the step of actively retrieving or “pulling” information from the Web.
Aggregating information by the user takes place at the user's desktop computer. The methods of aggregating information discussed above usually take place at the server computer and not at the client computer. In most cases, applying the above methods requires special programs that have to be written in some type of scripting or programming language or via specially designed web pages. What is needed beyond the prior art is a method to aggregate information in accordance with a user's need without the need for special programming by the user. For example, users may want to have access to web sites that display information that is updated continuously or periodically, such as bank balances, stock prices or weather reports. A user may have a number of web sites to access to review desired current information and it would be desirable to consolidate portions of each web site onto one page so that only relevant information is shown.
What is needed beyond the prior art is a way for a user to look at relevant information from several web pages at the same time. Specifically, what is needed is the ability to create a composite web page that combines selected information from multiple web pages for viewing on a single page. In addition, what is needed is a composite web page in which the composite entries will all update in response to a periodic, manual or continuous refresh capability.